Posts tagged ‘Land Registry’
61% of 2009 property sales happened in last six months
It might seem odd that we are only reporting 2009 now, but because of the Land Reg lag it is only now that we can look at the full set of data for the WHOLE of 2009.
2009 was a tale of two very different halves for the UK property market. The first half of the year was pretty poor coming off a year of transaction volumes at historic lows. The second half of the year was a different story as sales started to bounce back strongly, particularly in the south where buyers returned to the market as prices became tempting and to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday.
Key points:
• 61% of last year’s total sales transactions occurred in last 6 months
• Number of properties sold in second half of 2009 up 35% on 2008
• Houses prices up 4.7% in last half of 2009, a gain of 2.5% for year
• England property sales volumes flat in 2009 but Scotland down 33%
The figures reveal the extent of the property market turbulence last year. While property sales in Britain in 2009 were 6.8% lower than a year earlier, it was very much a year of two halves. The number of properties that changed hands in the first 6 months of last year (273,015) was down 36.9% on 2008 but the second half of 2009 showed a 34.6% surge in sales transactions (421,732) compared to the last half of 2008.
While home values in Britain managed a gain of 2.5% over 2009, average house prices fell 2.2% over the first 6 months of the year (from £205,607 to £201,067) before recovering in the second half by 4.7% to reach an average value of £210,661 by the year end. One of the biggest factors in the house price rebound in the second half of last year was the recovery in market activity with increased transaction volumes leading to higher property prices.
Transaction volumes were particularly strong in the fourth quarter of 2009, up by double-digits in all regions compared to 2008 with the exception of Scotland where sales levels have been slow to recover and were up only 8% in Q4 09 versus the previous year and were down 33% for the full year 2009, compared to a decline of only 1% in England and 12% in Wales.
Property Sales
| Country | 1H 2009 | 1 YR Change | 2H 2009 | 1YR Change | Total 2009 | Total 2008 | 1YR Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 228,536 | -33.7% | 358,894 | 43.7% | 587,430 | 594,331 | -1.2% |
| Scotland | 35,334 | -51.1% | 48,664 | -7.7% | 83,998 | 125,025 | -32.8% |
| Wales | 9,145 | -40.9% | 14,174 | 29.8% | 23,319 | 26,392 | -11.6% |
| Total Britain | 273,015 | -36.9% | 421,732 | 34.6% | 694,747 | 745,748 | -6.8% |
Source: Zoopla.co.uk
Politics aside, this was the week that…
Hometrack said: “House prices remained unchanged in May.”
The Land Registry said: “…annual house prices in England and Wales fell by 16.2 per cent in April.”
Halifax said: “There was a 2.6% increase in average UK house prices in May.”
The Bank of England kept interest rates at 0.5%
…and sadly, the return of gazumping was reported by London agents in the Financial Times.
We’ve received many responses to the announcements. They’ve ranged from calling the bottom of the market, upbeat moods about the market to total confusion and complete pessimism.
So, in answer to your varied responses, here are some articles you may find of interest:
“One upbeat survey is not a recovery” – The Independent
“Don’t get carried away by house price rise” – The Daily Telegraph
Feel free to post any comments in the box below. Perhaps you think the market is recovering?
Zoopla!’s grand designs
Welcome to the Zoopla! blog
We’re delighted to be adding another channel for communicating with our customers – consumers, agents and all others with an interest in Zoopla! – as we continue to expand and innovate within the property market. In 2008 we focused on getting the business up and running, growing our team and developing the product. In a short period of time we:
- offered users FREE access to instant value estimates and sold house prices
- let buyers show interest in any UK home and owners test interest through TemptMe!
- created an environment where anyone can ask/answer questions about homes
- saw our user base grow significantly to over a million visits per month
- received over a million data contributions to our website from users
- won the First Tuesday award for the UK’s Most Promising Internet Company
- won the Web User magazine gold award for Best UK Property Website
We now list tens of millions of data points relating to home characteristics and property sales across the UK allowing our algorithm to estimate the current value of any UK home with impressive accuracy, especially during a uniquely turbulent market. Customer feedback has also been overwhelmingly positive so thank you to all who provided it.
So far in 2009 we’ve already enjoyed some exciting highlights. We have:
- raised £3.75m in venture capital to continue to develop our service
- added a further 5 million Land Registry sold house prices stretching back to 1995
- launched hundreds of thousands of listings of properties for sale and to rent
- helped users find local agents to assist them in the transaction process
- grown our audience to become the 5th most visited UK property portal
So what can you expect from this blog? From time to time we’ll update readers on new site features as they’re launched, draw your attention to interesting trends and statistics within the site, offer thoughts on issues pertinent to the UK property market and give you the inside track on developments within the business. So whether you prefer to stay in touch by registering for our monthly newsletter, following us on Twitter or keeping an eye on our blog, we hope that you continue to enjoy Zoopla!’s unique approach to online property.
Finally, if you have any feedback for us or ideas for how we could improve our service, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
